Auxillary Animorphs
by cogland
Summary: Story set between Animorpsh 5054. Told by James.
1. Chapter 1

My name is James. I know that you guys probable don't know a lot about me, but you do know a lot about my friends. The Animorphs. You know Jake, Cassie, Marco, Rachel, Tobias, and Ax. You know all about their adventures. Their war. Well, this isn't about them. This is about me and my Animorphs. There are 17 of us at the rehab clinic, and one living with the original team in the Hork-Bajir valley, Elena. Six in the original team. Twenty three Animorphs. We were more then a small band a guerilla warriors. We are an army.

I guess I will start at the beginning. Well, our beginning. Only about two months ago, I was approached here in our rehab clinic by Jake, Marco, and Cassie. The told me about Yeerks. They told me about Elfangor and morphing. They told me about their war. They even showed me. What did I say? What was my reaction? I was pissed. I was pissed and it wasn't because aliens were taking over our planet. It was because I figured some kids here wanted to come and rub it in that they were healthy and had families and were loved. Collette was the first one to believe them, so really except what they were saying. I guess I kind of felt bad, at first. After a while, I accepted what they had told us. I accepted the power they gave us and the responsibility that it entitled

What makes us different is that all of us are what you called "crippled" I hate the word, but it is true. We all have our problems. From multiple sclerosis to just being paralyzed, we are a mess. Jake and the others had the idea to give injured kids the power that they were carrying. They knew the Yeerks wouldn't want a whole bunch of worthless hosts. I know they didn't mean to be offensive, but it always makes me mad. We have learned to deal with our problems. We are a team and we have over come those issues. We realize that most of us have a short life line here on Earth, and this is our way to show the world that we aren't worthless. That we can defend them. I pray that our story will be told someday. I pray that the world will respect us, will honor us. I don't even know if we will live. It has been close already. From our first battle I wasn't sure. But I knew we had a responsibility. It wasn't Jake's or Cassie's or Rachel's or anyone's fault that we were in this war. They didn't ask for this war anymore then we did. They were just normal kids living their lives. They were given a burden that was bigger then them. They persisted and even fought back. Now it was our turn to help carry that burden. We had to defend Earth. I am proud of all of us, and I know that, even if we aren't remembered. Even if we lose or die, we did our part. We stepped up to the plate and fought back.

I guess I am what you can call the leader of the new Animorphs. I hand picked them and was there when they learned to morph. I was in charge of seventeen, including Elena, other Animorphs. The majority of the Animorphs. But I am not stupid. I am not going to take that power trip. Jake is the leader, and I will follow him. He and the others have been doing this for three years. I have only been doing it for a couple of months. They have the experience and knowledge to fight this war. There is a lot I can learn from them. I guess if anything happened to Jake, one of the others would take over. Probable Rachel or Tobias. I hope I never have to be the official leader. I am scared that that day might present itself. I am Jake's lieutenant. I like that. I am ok with that.

When I was four years old, I was in a car accident. It left me paralyzed from the waist down. My mother brought me to the hospital and never came back. I never had a family. I learned to take care of myself, but I was still dependant on the staff here at the hospital. I am seventeen now, and I don't know what I would of done next year when I would have to leave the children's clinic. I guess I would be right off to a nursing home. I didn't have a family to take care of me. No one to pay for school or anything. I don't know what I would do. But I don't have to worry about that. See, when I morphed the first time, it healed me. It cured my spinal injury that haunted me for thirteen years. I could walk, run, jump, swim. I was whole again. I could go live a real life. But I don't want it. Not yet at least. For reasons of security, I have to still pretend to be injured. I cant let anyone, mostly the Yeerks; know that there were new Animorphs living here. Even if we wanted to leave, most of the new team was in no physical condition to live away from the clinic. They need the doctors and nurses and machines to live. Only two other members of my team, Craig and Erica, were cured too. They also have to live the difficult life of pretending to be injured.

"James, lights out," the nurse who was on duty announced. I rolled over in my bed and looked at the clock. 11:00. The nurse, a kind woman names Julie, looked in. "You and your reading. What is this on?" she walked over and looked at the book I was reading. Deadly Animals of Africa. "Hmm, what an interesting read. I wonder what Mr. Nangil is teaching you kids. Goodnight James," She said with a smile. She was a nice woman, one of the few nurses who truly cared about us all as if we were her children.

"Night Julie," I called after her. I had called her Julie ever sense I was ten. She wouldn't let any of us call her by her last name. She closed the door and I heard her walk away. I flicked my light off and waited.

11:30. Time to go.

I got up, and in the darkness, walked over to my window. I pushed the window open and let the night air fill in.

"Sorry Pedro, but I have to go. I will tell you all about it as soon as I get back," I said to my roommate. His name was Pedro Klensit. He was fourteen years old and had been in the clinic for five years. He had been one of the big reasons I was in this war. I had made the condition that I would join the Animorphs as long as Pedro could get the power too. Jake agreed. Though Pedro could morph, he wasn't an Animorph. Out of all the children on this floor, he was by far the worst. I knew that this was why I shared a room with him and not my old room mate and probable best friend, Craig. I could look after him, and I didn't mind it. He was a really cool kid. In a battle, he would truly be helpless. The rest of us might be able to pull ourselves or something. Pedro has two morphs. A red-tailed hawk, which I brought him flying sometimes, and me. I had given Pedro my body so that someday, when this all gets out, he could become me and live a normal life. I didn't care if there was an exact clone walking around of me. Pedro deserved it. He just blinked his eyes in understanding, but I could tell he was sad.

I gave him a brave smile and began to morph. I felt my body shrink and become light. My bones hollowed out and my face extended outward in a sharp, curved beak. My toes grew together and formed into sharp, deadly talons. My arms became covered in feathers and my eyes became super eyes. I could see everything, as if it were day. I was a great-horned howl. It was a newer morph for me. I had gotten Cassie to get me the morph. I flapped up to the window sill and jumped into the night. I opened my owl wings and felt the wind catch me. I flapped a few times and soar up into the night air. It was amazing. I couldn't hear a thing. I flew up and onto the roof. I landed behind a large air-conditioner unit. Over the next ten minutes, the rest of my little team arrived. I had only picked six to come along on this mission. First to meet me was Collette, the first one of us to really accept the original Animorph's story. She was a sixteen year old who had been paraplegic her entire life. Next, Julio, a fifteen year old with cerebral palsy. Judy, Tricia, and Craig came next. I wanted to make sure Craig, being one of my second in commands, had experience incase he ever had to take over. I alternated between him and Erica on missions. Finally, Timmy arrived. Timmy's room was the closest to the nurse's station, so he had to make sure they wouldn't hear him. He landed on the gravel room in his little pigeon morph.

((Sorry I am late. Julie was sitting at the station for a long time, so it took me a while to feel comfortable enough to get out)) Timmy said. I couldn't help but laugh to myself. Suffering from a severe speech impediment among other things, Timmy found though speak to be probable the best part about morphing.

((Yeah, it is ok. So team, we are going to go fly surveillance around. We will get to the other's home town, and then we will take some time to demorph and remorph. Remember, Jake doesn't know about this and we don't want to royally piss him off. No heroics, and get out of there if anything happens. If we get separated, meet back here. Ready?)) When all of them agreed, I opened my wings and started to fly.

I must admit, few things in life are as great as flying. Just feeling totally weightless and being a mile above the ground is probable the craziest thing ever. It is also the most exciting. All of us loved flying, but none of the others possed a good at night morph. Only I had the owl morph. Craig, Julio, and Judy had Tobias's red-tail hawk morph while Tricia had a sweet bald eagle morph that Rachel had gotten her to acquire when they and a few others made a run to Cassie's old barn. Collette and Timmy had the pigeon morph. I made a mental note to at least ask Tobias to let them acquire him. They needed better morphs incase we ever had a dog fight in the air.

It took about a half hour to get to where we wanted to be. The Yeerks still were working under a thin veil of secrecy. Open war hadn't broken out yet, and the Yeerks were still trying to recruit new hosts.

The others had told us about the Sharing, a secret cover group the Yeerks used to recruit members. One time the sharing had me and some others from the clinic come to a big cook out at the beach. I guess it was to show how into the community they were. Really, the whole thing kind of sucked. We were all forced to sit on the concrete with our wheelchairs and talk to people who were being nice to us. It was really fake and I hated it. Now we all know it was a big act.

Sense Jake and the others couldn't really keep tabs on things going on with the controllers in town any longer, I figured us new guys would have to. I knew Jake probable wouldn't like the idea, so I had asked Cassie for help. She had gotten Tobias in on the plan and the two spent a few days showing us known controllers, Yeerk pool entrances, and other things. She had tried to get me to agree to never take the team out unless she or Tobias were there to help us, and I even pretended to agree. I am sure that she saw right through that, but I just couldn't sit in the clinic and do nothing while the rest of them were out there fighting. We had to step up to the plate and fight. We were going to show the Yeerks that were here to fight.


	2. Chapter 2

The Yeerks had built a massive, really sweet looking building that they used as a community center and a headquarters for the Sharing. There were big fields around it, where they had a baseball diamond and areas for people to play soccer and football and whatever. There was also a really sweet playground where kids could play, with benches in the shade for parents to watch their kids. For kids who could never play on those growing up, we were jealous.

((I think this is a pretty good area to hang around for a bit. Collette, Timmy, I think your morphs are the least conspicuous around here. The rest of us will go into the tree belts around here and lay low. You two get lower and just scope things out. I will fly cover from above.)) I hated giving orders. I knew that if anything happened to them, I would never forgive myself.

((Sounds good Czar)) Timmy said jokingly. I gave him a laugh and flapped my wings, aiming my body upward. I flew up a couple hundred feet, and then started to fly circles around the center. With my owl eyes, I could see everything down there in perfect detail. I saw the others fly into the trees, hiding their noticeable bird-of-prey bodies. I saw Timmy and Collette fly down to the play ground, landing on the jungle gym and hopping along on the other equipment. For a bit I didn't even know what we were doing. It was midnight and there didn't seem to be any activity going on in the center. For about another forty-five min. I continued to soar over the center. Finally, I flew down into the trees and ordered everyone to demorph. As soon as we all were demorphed, I walked around and helped people get in more comfortable positions. Craig helped me, and in a few min., we had five sick kids sitting against trees or rocks.

"Let's give ourselves some time to rest. Craig and I will go walk around the streets, see if anyone is coming along. If you guys see anyone, morph. If it seems to get out of control for you, get back to the clinic. Don't worry about us, we will be back soon," I looked at all of them and gave them a big grin. Even though they were all ill, I didn't feel like I was leaving them in danger. If worse came to worse, they would morph and get out of there. I nodded to Craig and he followed me. He was slightly shorter then me, with thick, brown curly hair. He had dark eyes and tan skin. He was sixteen years old and had been my roommate for three years. I knew all of his secrets, and he knew all of mine, not that in a clinic you have many. When he was eight, he got in a car accident, a lot like me. But with him, he had been riding his bike and was hit. It left him with a crushed pelvis, making it impossible for him to walk ever again. At least until he was able to morph.

We walked out of the tree rows and onto a street. Across the street there were a couple shops and a small neighborhood grocery store. There was also a gas station on the corner. We walked close to the buildings, and went into any ally we could find. It wasn't the most pleasant experience, with both of us being barefoot, but we fought threw it. What is walking on some rocks when you had had a few surgeries?

"Just like when we use to make up those adventures, huh?" He asked me. I looked over at him and saw that he was beaming. When we roomed together, Craig and I would often make up fantasies. Those stories helped us both deal with the pain of what we had to live through. I thought of Craig as one of my closest friends, even a brother. When I was fourteen and he was thirteen, Craig's family took both of us to L.A. They were a pretty wealthy family, and we got to see a lot of cool stuff. Craig and I had made up some pretty cool stories of running around the city, finding criminals.

"It is crazy how our little games have become reality," I said. We continued to roam around the city, looking for anything out of the ordinary. We didn't go to far, just incase anything would happen, and luckily we didn't.

((Hey, James, Craig. You two better bet back here fast. Don't be too obvious, but make it fast,)) It was Collette. She had obviously morphed and sounded pretty worried. Craig and I exchanged sideways glances and took off back to the trees. It was only a few blocks away, and by the time we got there, both of us were out of breath and sweating. Craig hadn't run for eight years. I hadn't for thirteen. We ran back to the same spot where we had been and found our friends up in the trees.

"What is it?" I whispered. I couldn't see much from the trees, but I could see a light on in a second floor room in the center.

((Some birds just flew up. Four of them. I think one of them was Jake's brother. They just flew to the lawn and demorphed. I can see them here. They have all demorphed and are in that room there. If I get closer, I might be able to hear what they are saying.)) Timmy said. I looked up and him and shook my head. I wasn't going to put any of them in danger. I looked back at the community center and could see vaguely the shapes of people moving around. I looked and Craig and watched as he started morphing back to his hawk morph. I focused my mind on the owl. In a few moments, I was the owl again. Now I could see clearly into the room. It was Jake's older brother, Tom. He was also with two females and a young male.

((I am going to go check it out. Sorry Timmy, but I have a faster, bigger morph. I will be able to fight them off if anything happens,)) I knew Timmy didn't buy it, but I didn't want to fight with him. Even though I trusted them all, I still didn't want anything to happen to them. I opened my wings and flew up, closer to the center. I landed on top of a street light, just outside and to the right of the window. I peered in and could see Tom and the others looking on the computer at something. Only Tom and one of the other female controllers seemed to really focus on what it said. The other two just sort of walked around the office.

"This has to be the list of hospitals around here. My host's brother and the other Animorphs were trying to get that girl out of that hospital. I think they were trying to recruit her, and sense no one seems to know where she went, I think they succeeded. We have to hack into these hospital's data bases and maybe narrow it down for us. Let's get to work people.

((O no! The Yeerks are onto us. They suspect that we are from clinics and they are searching local hospital databanks.)) I yelled. I didn't know what to do. I had to stop them. I had to make sure they didn't find us. How? Jake would know. I couldn't go get Jake. He was so far away in the Hork-Bajir valley. I wish I had at least gotten Cassie or Tobias. No, I had to decide. The others depended on me. I had to make sure that we stopped them, no matter what.

((James… What are we going to do?)) Julio said. I could hear the pleading tone in his voice. I could feel the others' fear. I knew they were getting anxious.

((We have to stop them from searching. We have to distract them. We will get Ax to do something about it on the computer. Until then, we have to stop them from this search tonight…Julio, fly to the valley and get Ax. Tell him what is happening. We have to do this now!)) I cried. I was frantic. How to get in there? I didn't know. What type of security did this place have?

((No way! I want in on this!)) Julio argued

((Dammit Julio, get going now!)) I felt horrible the second I yelled it, but I didn't have time to waste. I watched as Julio opened his wings and took off. ((The rest of us need to get ready. Here is the plan.))

Five minutes later, we were set up.

((Judy, let it rip,)) I yelled. Judy, standing just outside the Window in the soccer field, raised her long nose and let loose an ear drum busting cry. I immediately saw all four sets of eyes in the room turn and look out. All Four of them got up and hurried to the window to see a full grown African elephant standing there.

((Tricia, now!)) Two seconds later, Tricia dived at the window with her eagle morph. At the last second, she flared her wings and leg loose a large rock she was struggling to carry. The Rock sailed at the window and cracked it. I repeated the same action, making my rock hit only a few inches away. The glass gave a definite crack, but still didn't shatter. Judy ran over to the nearest bench, and using her strong nose, ripped the bench right out of the ground. She lifted the bench up and threw it straight at the window. I could see the fearful looks on the controller's faces as the bench shattered the window and slammed into the ground. I am even pretty sure the bench took out one of the female controllers in the room.

"Animorphs! Hurry, morph!" I heard Tom yell. I landed with Tricia back in the trees and rushed through my demorphing. I stopped for only a second to take a breath, and then I focused on the lion. Instantly I could feel the thick mane growing all over my neck and back, and I felt a tail extend from my spine. I fell forward onto my hands and I watched as they got bigger, forming into pays. Lastly, my face bulged out, forming the lion's snout. My hears moved up and pointed, while my eyes became golden yellow and black slit pupils. In seconds I was a full grown African lion. Next to me, I watched as Tricia's nose curved straight up, pointing and becoming a horn. She became a rhino.

((Follow me,)) I said. The others had told us about the morphs we had picked. They told us rhinoceroses had weak eye sight. Tricia could barely see in front of her. She could however see the lion loping next to her. We ran back over to Judy and got there just as a jaguar, panther, and wolf all jumped out of the window. These guys don't stand a chance, I thought. I ran straight at the jaguar, the biggest of them. The big cat saw me and bore it's fangs at me. I jumped right at him, taking him down on the impact with my hundreds of pounds advantage. The cat bit frantically at my neck, but it was no use. Nothing got past the lion's mane. I pinned him and bit down into his shoulder.

((AGH!)) The controller screamed. It was Tom, Jake's brother. The Jaguar yanked itself away, slashing wildly at my face. I felt as his claws slit open my face, but it was nothing. I slashed back at him, connecting with his face and sent him rolling. It was no contest between the lion and jaguar. He was fast, but I was faster. He was strong, but I was stronger. I could hear Judy and Collette, in her crocodile morph, fight with the panther. The other big cat tried to leap on top of Judy, but her thick hide didn't allow him to harm her. The cat did, however, stay out of reach from Collette's snapping snout.

Craig swung his massing grizzly fist at the wolf, who dodged the attack, but jumped right into Tricia's charge. The wolf let out a yelp of pain, and tried to climb to its mangled feet, but Timmy, in his bobcat morph, attacked its hind legs from behind, biting down into the wolf's thigh, making it collapse again. I knew this fight would be over as quickly as it started. I regretted telling Jake that I had killed his brother, and I knew he would be very angry. I also couldn't help but feeling that he would be partially relieved. He wouldn't have to kill his brother when it came down to it.

Then I heard a noise. It was the noise of a car speeding this way. Of course! An alarm had to of gone off when the window broke. They knew they were under attack.


	3. Chapter 3

The controllers were here, in their cars, ready to kill us.

((Tricia, Judy, Collette, get out of here now and demorph. Reinforcements are coming! Timmy, Craig and I will hold them off, and then we will get out. Meet us back at the clinic,)) I was frantic. I looked to see Collette, who had managed to grab the panther in her massive jaw, spit the limp animal out. She turned and ran surprisingly quickly on her short crocodile legs. Tricia ran up next to Judy and followed her to the trees. In moments they were all gone. I had to distract the controllers and make sure they didn't see them demorph.

((We have to give them a distraction to demorph! Follow me.)) I screamed. I started to run across the field, straight at the controllers who were climbing out of two different cars, four in each car. As I ran, I let out a ferocious roar, making the controllers who were reaching for their weapons hesitate.

((Tom and the wolf are getting away. They are running back into the center to demorph)) Timmy yelled.

Four seconds later, I was on the controllers. I leapt into them, and landed on top of the nearest car. I spun and swatted my paw, with my claws retracted, into the face of one. The controller fell to the ground, out cold. Another pointed his dracon weapon at me and fired, but I was already on the other side of the car. I crouched low and ran around the back, to find Craig body slam three controllers into the side of a car, shattering the side windows. Two of the controllers stayed down, but one pulled herself to her feet.

"Disgusting Animorphs! We will find out who you are, and we will kill you," She cried. Blood flowed from her nose, mouth, and ears. She raised her dracon weapon and fired it at Craig. The beam burned clear through his chest, blasting out the other side. Craig roared a painful cry and stumbled to the ground. Frantically, I leapt at the woman. She tried to raise her weapon at me, but I hit her with all seven hundred pounds. She fell to the pavement, hitting her head and not moving. For a split second, I hoped she was dead, but I thought to myself that there was an innocent woman in there.

I leaped away from the controller as four different dracon beams lanced at me. I plowed into the first controller, knocking him over, and then I swatted the legs out from under the next. I felt two dracon weapons burn into me, but I was to full of adrenaline. I vaguely saw Timmy leap at a third controller, biting into the man's wrist and making him drop the weapon. I felt another dracon hit me right in my back. I tried to move towards the controller who shot it, but my legs wouldn't move. O shit, I am paralyzed! I am going to die, I screamed to myself. The controller realized the same thing and leveled his dracon weapon at my head.

Then I heard the eagle scream. I saw the controller jerk his eyes forward as Tricia, in the bald eagle morph, slashed her talons down at his face. Deep red slashes appeared on the controllers face, blinding him.

"AAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" the controllers screamed, dropping to his knees and clenching his face. I watched as a red-tailed hawk repeated the action to the controller Timmy struggled with.

((James, demorph now. Craig is half way through his morph and will take care of the two other controllers,)) Collette cried. I had forgotten about the two controllers I had knocked down. Surely they hadn't been knocked out by just falling. I saw as Craig, only about half bear at the time, ran at them both, swinging his half human, half bear paws at them. One hit a middle aged looking controller right in the shoulder, but the arm still had overgrown human hands. The attack only made the man stumble to the side, but made him fall into his companion, whose shot went wide. I took that as the time to pull myself in between the two cars, using them to semi hide me. I was already half ways demorphed by the time I got to the cars. As soon as I was fully human, I focused back on the lion.

((James, stop. All of the controllers are down. We need to get out of here. Tom and the other controller are heading this way, morphed again,)) Craig yelled. I trusted Craig, and focused back on my human body. Sense I was barely morphed, it took all of five seconds to become human again. I turned to see a jaguar and wolf come running out of the building. They were only about fifty yards away. I focused my mind on the great-horned owl. I could see Craig and Timmy both finish their morphs and get air born.

((James, get in the nearest car. You won't be done soon enough. They will get you!)) Collette screamed. I could see the others taking dives at the two beasts, but they barely slowed them down. I moved awkwardly over to the black Lexus next to me. I climbed in the open back seat door and slammed it shut. I knew that they would trap me around the car, and eventually break in. The wolf hit the door and damn near smashed the glass in. I pulled myself to the driver's seat and, with my half foot, half talon, pushed the gas pedal. I threw the transmittion in drive and shot forward, crashing right into the other car. I threw it in reverse and backed up about twenty feet. I then put it back in drive and cruised out of there. It was my first time driving a car ever. I shot out of the parking lot and barely avoided going over the curve on the other side. With my semi morphed feet, I couldn't really get a feel for the pedal. I drove the car about three blocks away, then ditched it. I dropped out of the drivers door and landed on my hands . I willed myself to finish the morph, focusing with all of my energy. I could see Tom and the wolf running at me, but they were still about a half block away. Then the morph was complete. I flapped my wings frantically, and got air born right as the wolf snapped its dangerous jaws at me.

((O my God, that was close!)) I cried. I let out a long yell, half out of terror, half out of pure adrenaline. I pumped my wings harder, and then joined up with the others.

((Everyone, go in opposite directions for a bit, incase anyone is watching,)) with that, I turned my owl wings and soared south, the opposite direction from the treatment center. I did that for a couple of miles, then turned back north. I could vaguely see a red-tailed hawk about five miles ahead of me. I assumed it was either Craig or Judy. I pumped my wings and soared. It took me about another half hour to get to the clinic. I flew by each one of my team's rooms, making sure they were in there. After confirming they were, except Julio who went to the valley, I flew into my own room. I landed on my bed and started to demorph.

((What happened?)) A voice asked me. I swear, if I had been human, I would of jumped to the ceiling. I turned my owl head and saw Pedro sitting on his bed. Except it wasn't Pedro, well, not physically. He was there, sitting as a red-tailed hawk.

((O man, you freaked me out,)) I said with a laugh. I then proceeded to tell him everything that happened that night. I did leave out most of the stuff that dealt with me almost getting eaten, but I told him the gist.

((O man, I wish I could have been there with you,)) He said sadly. I knew that he was sincere when he said it. I just looked down at my bed, and then started to demorph.

((Don't worry about it Pedro. Someday you will be,)) I lied. I didn't know what to tell him. I finished demorphing and looked over at him. For a second, I saw him hesitate. He looked over at the window, as if longing to fly away. Then, slowly, he returned to his crippled body. I got out of bed and tucked him back in. I also went and shut my window. I climbed back into bed and begged myself to fall asleep. I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. The others had had so many close calls before, I didn't know how they dealt with it. I also couldn't help worrying about Julio and whether the Yeerks were going to come bursting into my room. I don't know when I finally fell asleep, but I knew it wasn't anytime too soon after that.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning I awoke with a loud knocking on my door. I turned my head to see that the sun was shining through my window. I looked at my alarm clock and saw that it was close to noon.

"Come in," I called. I threw the blankets over my legs, just incase it was a nurse or doctor. Instead it was Julio and Collette. Julio walked into the room and sat down. Clearly he was feeling good enough today to walk. Collette wheeled herself in and shut the door behind her. She kept her chair in front of the door, just incase a nurse tried to get in.

"So, what is up?" I asked. I avoided Julio's eyes, still feeling horrible for sending him away.

"James, don't worry. You did the right thing," He said. He smiled at me, then I saw the side of his face jerk. I knew it was just an involuntary movement that was common with his illness. "Anyways, Ax and the others are going to get on the computer right away. They decided that deleting our hospitals site and even other ones would just tip the Yeerks off sooner, but they are going to try to make them harder to find. They are also putting harder encryption on so they can't get lists of patients' names."

"Well, at least it is something. It doesn't really help us with keeping the Yeerks away though. I guess we will just have to act extra pathetic, just incase they come anyways," as I said it, I knew that it was harsh. I looked at my two friends and could see a slight jerk in each of their faces. I knew this wasn't part of their illnesses. "I am sorry, I shouldn't of said that."

"No you shouldn't of, but your right. We have to reaffirm in them that we are helpless and that the Animorphs would never contact us," Collette said. She smiled at me and gave me a wink. I found myself smiling back. I really liked it when she smiled at me. I guess over some time, Collette and I had been growing closer. We had been good friends for a long time, and I guess maybe we could be something more someday. Maybe after the war.

"Any who, Jake was pissed. He yelled at me for a bit. Cassie backed us up, but said we should of waited for back up. Rachel said what we did was good and that we had to make sure the Yeerks didn't think we were for sure gone. Jake said he wanted you to come out later today," Julio said. I saw the nervous look on his face, and I knew I would get a royal screaming at.

Later, Tobias came by. I knew that he would probable be on my side in the issue, and I was glad he came to give me a heads up.

((Hey James, are you alone?)) He asked. I went and locked my room door and then opened the window. Pedro was out doing some treatments, so I was all by myself. Tobias flew into my room and landed on the tv stand. I knew that he wouldn't of risked coming here during the day unless he has something important to say.

"So, is Jake really mad?" I asked. I knew the answer, but I didn't know what else to say.

((Yeah, but he is calming down some. Cassie was really fighting for you guys. He was more mad at finding out that she knew about your guy's little outings. Those two have been butting heads a lot lately. I don't know why.))

"Yeah, well, I bet he is pretty pissed that I almost killed his brother too," I said.

((Yeah, that too,)) Tobias said. I smiled slightly. Over the last few months, Tobias had really been someone to talk to. He had lost a lot in the war, and I respected him a lot for that. He had spent a lot of time telling me and the new team stories to help us learn from their experiences.

"So, when I go out there, am I going to get it handed to me?" I asked. Tobias laughed.

((You know, I can never tell with Jake. Probable. If I were you, I would go out there and explain to him exactly what you did. Explain you knew it was dangerous, but just tell him the truth. Plus, I wouldn't worry about it. It isn't like he can ground you or whatever.))

"Yeah, I guess not," I said. I guess that kind of helped me get mentally ready for it.

I waited until that night. I knew Jake would be pissed, but I didn't want to run the risk of being caught. I asked Craig and Collette to come with me. I don't know why. Maybe it was the fact we would be flying long distance, or maybe it was cause I wanted some support. I soared high in the air, and could see two red-tailed hawks flying some distance to each side of me. I had gotten Tobias to let Collette acquire him. He was more then happy to let her.

((This hawk morph is way cooler then the pigeon. Who knew that something could see even better!)) Collette said for about the hundredth time. I just laughed and knew Craig was too. It took us about and hour to get to the valley. It was one of those nights that weren't to dark. The moon and stars were really bright. I knew that that would make flying easier for the other two. Still, they were dead tired by the time we landed at the camp and demorphed.

The rest of the Animorphs were already there, standing around a small fire. Also, most of their parents were there too and Toby, the leader of the Hork-Bajir. I guess Toby was what the Hork-Bajir call a seer. She was a super rare Hork-Bajir that was super intelligent. I mean Andalite intelligent.

"Hey," I said to Jake and the others. He just glared at me. He was standing next to the fire, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and some jeans. His arms were crossed and I could tell he was really frustrated. Next to him, on a log, sat Marco. He just kept playing with a stick he was sticking in the fire. Cassie stood on the other side of the fire, next to her parents and the other auxiliary Animorph Elena. She came over and gave me a hug.

"Don't worry," She whispered in my ear. She stepped away and walked over to help her parents move Collette over to a log, where she could sit on the ground with her back against it.

"So, what exactly were you thinking?" Jake snapped. He just kept glaring at me. I took a deep breath and started to explain.

"Look, I figured that someone had to be in the city keeping an eye on things. You guys aren't really able to just come and go as you please there, so I dec..figured it was our duty to do it." I said. I didn't want to say decided. That would sound like I wasn't following Jake.

"Dammit James, we talked about this. You knew that you guys were suppose to wait for us to come get you. What were you thinking? What if someone got hurt? What if they saw you demorph? What would you of done then?" Jake said.

"Yeah, I know we talked about that. I didn't do it to under mind you or whatever. I did it because we are more then just your reserves Jake. We need to help fight this war too. You can't expect us to sit there all day and wait for you to do something. I am sorry that it got to the point that it did, I really am. I am sorry that I almost had to kill Tom, but you have to understand that we had to do something. Where are we suppose to get the experience we need to fight with you?" I snapped. I saw Jake cringe as I mentioned my near killing of his brother, but he caught himself.

"Jake, if they wouldn't of done this, the Yeerks could of figured out who they were by now. They could be shoving James's head into a Yeerk pool as we speak," Rachel said. She walked over from a near by Picnic table that her family was sitting at. I saw Jake give her a truly dirty glare, but Rachel didn't back down.

"Rachel, I don't need you getting into this. James, I get why you guys are restless, but I am just saying that you guys are still really green. Before you go out trying to fight the Yeerks by yourself, wait until you get more experience with us. We can't loose anyone. We are getting close to the finish, I can feel it. We need you guys." I could tell the fire in Jake's mind was partially burnt out.

"Look Jake, I am sorry. I really am, but I don't take back what we did. We need to do our part. I know now that I should have waited for you guys, but we were lucky we caught it when we did. Think of how many of us would have been slaughtered if the Yeerks came to the clinic," That did it. That pretty much ended the whole argument. I knew that we had one our case. I felt proud of myself for sticking up for us, but I didn't think any less of Jake. If anything, I appreciated him more for how much care he showed for us.

After a while of Jake just standing there looking at me. Finally, he just smiled at me.

"It's ok James. Just please, don't do it again," He said, holding out his hand. I smiled back and reached for it. We shook hands. "Any ways, you guys better stay here tonight. I will have someone wake you up early in the morning." I nodded. We spent the rest of the night talking with the other guys, there parents, and the Hork-Bajir. It was fun, actually. I liked any time that I got to spend time getting to know our team mates.

Craig and Marco really got along well, sending sarcastic jokes over to Rachel and Collette. Collette proved to be just as witty as the blond beauty, and the two of them countered each joke with a good comeback. All in all, it was fun.

We finally got about four hours of sleep. Elena came and shook my shoulders until I awoke. I sat up and ran my fingers through my unkempt curly hair. I looked at the blind girl. Her red hair fell lightly around her shoulders, and her fair skin was covered with freckles. I felt back for her. She was taken out of her home at her own school for the blind and brought here to the valley. So far, she had proven to be a good soldier and did what was asked of her.


End file.
